Royal Beats Esperanza to Walk Off With Title

It took a balanced attack, great serving, tough defense and about an hour for the Royal High girls’ volleyball team to defeat Esperanza, 15-13, 15-4, 15-3, Saturday in the Southern Section 4-A Division final at Marina High.

Throughout the match, Royal (18-1) used a balanced attack with four players finishing with six kills or more.

Wende Brown led Royal with nine kills and three blocks, Alison Bantel had eight kills and Jennifer Hamilton had six kills and four blocks.

As swift and stunning as Royal’s victory was, it came as little surprise to either side. Both had gotten to the final as unseeded teams.

But the fact that Royal was unseeded is misleading. The Highlanders shared the Marmonte League championship with Thousand Oaks, which was the division’s top-seeded team. “I’m not surprised we dominated tonight,” said Royal Coach Bob Ferguson, whose team had advanced to the semifinals four of the past six years.

“All the kids played so well. It’s been like that for the past three weeks.”

“We’ve got a good program,” Ferguson said. “I think maybe some people found that out tonight.”

Esperanza, the Empire League champion, had had a surprisingly good year, dealing La Habra its only loss of the season--the Highlanders won the 3-A championship Saturday--and finishing second in the Orange County championships.

CHATSWORTH LOSES IN CITY FINAL: Palisades defeated the Chancellors in three games to win the 4-A title. C24.